The living room is where we usually welcome guests, friends and acquaintances. It’s the most representative room in our house, a meeting place, that’s why the furniture (the décor) has to be featured by comfortable armchairs, large sofas and furnishings that help to create an atmosphere of familiarity and relaxation.

The most important part of a living room is made up by sofas and armchairs. Since the 18th century a furniture composed by more seats, then commonly called sofa and armchair (in Italy sofa and armchair are also called with a unique name, salotto, as the room where we usually find them, then salotto is the Italian equivalent for living room), has joined the furnishings, at first in the institutional environment then embellishing and completing mansions. Finally, also common houses adopted it.

A workmanlike living room, it’s not only an ensemble of comfortable and attractive pieces of furniture, it’s something more:

- according to the manufacturer it expresses an old working culture, born by the master craftsmen, whose roots has spread since centuries in Brianza; - according to the customer it highlights his own life-style, his cleverness and good taste in house furnishing.

Sixty years ago, Emilio set up his workshop Emilio Monti in Meda, in the land of Brianza, the home of furniture. The workshop was situated in the historic centre, along the uphill road of Via San Martino 12, in a courtyard house of the most characteristics of the country. In that time, house and workshop, affections and interests, friendships and working relationships were the way of life. When you were young, you learned the trade, starting as an apprentice, then reached the age of majority, you set up your own workshop. Working was not only manufacturing but also a daily creating, an art handed down from generation to generation. A remarkable creative ability combined with the initiative and the experience gained through the collaboration with well-known local and global firms significantly contributed to establish a reputation for the workshop.

Exterior and interior courtyard of Via San Martino (courtesy of Umberto Lanzani)

Advertisement of the firm from the 60’s.

In the 90’s one of the sons, Paolo, decided to change course and set up his own workshop, after sharing a decade of activity with his father and the other brothers. TPM-TAPPEZZERIA PAOLO MONTI is born. It relies on Davide and Luciano (the sons) and on the collaboration of skilled workers.

Paolo is a master at his craft. He trained in his father’s workshop and improved his technical abilities assisting for several years the vocational school for upholsterer ATISEA (Associazione Tappezzieri in Stoffa ed Affini) already known as Società di Mutuo Soccorso founded in 1860 in Milan.Here, in the 60’s, long-time upholsterers, architects and professors gave their best in shaping young craftsmen which were able to know, understand and make good use of the concepts and the practical lessons taught to them.

TPM firm is situated in Via Colombo in a suitable structure located in an area well served by infrastructure. The firm has not wasted any time; today with the third generation who continues the tradition we can find it on the market with a prestigious collection of artefacts characterized by a highly refined style and a personal design who embraces both the classic and the modern.

The elements that make up the TPM sofas are simple but at the same time solid and wear-resistant:

- the permanent wooden structure of the frame;- high strength straps that allow greater flexibility in seating in the modern sofas or alternatively the steel spring suspension of classic sofas;- the polyurethane foam that covers the frame, forming a padding guaranteed over the years, while maintaining the shapes and the original features, ensuring, thus, the natural comfort of the seat;- the cushions are padded with goose down and / or with a polyurethane insert;- the fabric ranges from "operati" (a pattern formed by weaving) machined with jacquard loom as the "Damask", "Lampasso", or "Brocade" which give nobility to the classic manufactured article, to the velvets or to the cotton canvas of modern sofas sometimes covered with practical removable linings;- the best tanneries in Tuscany and Veneto work our premium leather.

The production cycle.

The reliability of the TPM is rooted in a wise union between knowledge and experience of the classic art of “manufacturing sofas and armchairs”. It’s also the ability matched with the will of renewing, moving towards the modern conception of “salotto”. A daily balance renewed by the contribution of ideas and projects of architects.

Below we introduce the processing stages of the manufactured article which, being produced in a workshop, has nothing to do with the mass production. Here each padded is unique, custom-tailored, in keeping with the décor of the home according to personal tastes and trends of both customer and operator.

The frame.

After taking into account the demands of the customer, the carpenter starts building the frame. The wooden boards, that are stored in a sheltered environment in order to complete the seasoning, are transported in the workshop to be machined. For a classic or contemporary sofa that will be completely covered, as in our case, we prefer using poplar wood, a soft wood and at the same time durable.

Some cardboard models of various forms(templates), which make up the frame of the sofa, are positioned above the wooden board then the carpenter traces the outline with a pencil.The pieces of wood are cut out with a wide band saw blade and then with a thin blade.They are planed and reduced to the desired thickness.The joints are obtained by digging the mortises and by creating tenons (dovetail).The frame should incorporate the arm posts, the arm tops, a back, front and crest rails, webbing bridges and legs.Finally, we glue the pieces up to compose the frame ready to be stuffed.For a frame in period style we proceed by assembling the pieces to complete it, when it is finished off, it's dismantled.The various parts are sanded, shaped, carved and glued back together to be permanent.The frame is ready to be polished, painted or gilded.

Crude sofa in period style. Sofa upholstered with traditional System

Crude frame sofa in poplar. Particular of padding with springs in the back of sofa.

When the decorative elements are completed, the frame goes into the hands of the upholsterer, who provides the padding.The first step is "messa in bianco" (phase in which the frame is covered with a thin layer of rubber) of seat, armrests and backrest that make up the sofa frame.The springs are slung through the use of belts and canvas, specifically balanced and fixed with rope.Moreover, the springs of the seat are further blocked with a strong thread of copper which surrounds the inner perimeter of the base, allowing greater resistance to the weight and ensuring greater stability.The parts are covered with synthetic plant material to create the padding of the seat, supported and formed by spiral springs.The latter, in the thirties of the nineteenth century, represented a breakthrough technique that offered a more comfortable elasticity compared to a mere vegetable fibre padding. The second stage consists in the coverage of the padded frame with the textile fabric or the tanned leather.The operator unrolls the fabric on the table and accurately cuts out the shapes of the seat, the armrests and the backrest, taking care to centre the designs (or flowers).If it’s required, we will tailor the outer surface after the sofa is covered. In Capitonné style you add any buttons at equal distances in order to form a regular pattern mostly in lozenges that create the quilted effect.In Biedermeier style the armrests are correlated by cylindrical cushions. At this point we cover the back of the sofa.The manufactured article is embellished, with the addition of decorative elements such as profiles, trims, borders and studs along the perimeter of the frame (generally in the style sofas required by loyal customers).When the work is finished, we tailor the cushions. These are padded with goose down and a polyurethane insert or with waterlilli ®, then covered with fabric or leather and positioned above the seat of the sofa.

The traditional padding.

An extensive experience in the design (the planning stage).

The TPM is able to develop, through its design department, any request by the customer providing a personalized service: performing home inspections, taking measurements and providing free estimates.The company is also a privileged interlocutor with major architectural firms and professionals, resulting in a collaboration designed to meet various needs of a continuous evolution.The craft experience, handed down from father to son for three generations provides a careful methodology in performing traditionally every single job.The workshop, respecting the correct quality parameters, performs renovations and restoration of artefacts. It is faithful to the original processing techniques such as the use of metal springs and plant material on the seats and the backrests and armrests, and with the use, upon request, of nails instead of staples.

The modern padding.

In modern sofas the seat suspension is secured by strong elastic straps.The parts are then covered with polyurethane foam that ensures stability, durability, robustness and unalterable original form.When the work is finished, as in traditional padding, the cushions are upholstered in fabric or leather and positioned above the seat of the sofa.

A modern sofa with removable cover. Classic sofa with removable cover.

Fabric and tanned leather.

It's the second phase of the production cycle. The sofa is upholstered with a fabric or tanned leathers of different types and colours. The operator unrolls the fabric on the table and accurately cuts out the shapes of the seat, the armrests and the backrest, taking care to centre the designs on it.If it’s required, we will tailor the outer surface after the sofa is covered.

We would like to remind of Francis, son of Peter of Bernardone, a craftsman and cloth merchant of Assisi; the Saint became the most revered in the world. The father would gladly left his son the management of its thriving business, but others were well-established designs for him. Popes, emperors and sultans bowed to so much wisdom and knowledge.This short but significant piece of medieval history makes us realize that Italy was rooted in the art of weaving.The fabric is a manufactured article constituted by a set of threads made from natural fibres.(cotton, linen, silk, wool) These are woven together in a certain order through the work of weaving.This weaving is called "reinforcement" and the fibres, arranged horizontally (from selvedge to selvedge), are called "weave". Those that run vertically are called "warp" or "chain".

Fabrics can be divided in two categories:

- smooth or merged when the weaving movements of the warp threads are always the same at each passage of the weft; - “operati” if the warp threads are moved independently from each other according to the design to be obtaine

Today printed fabrics are much appreciated for their elegance: fabrics with a unique light-coloured background on which are engraved decorative motifs.

The TPM Collection presents a varied range of fabrics that cover the sofa with grace and elegance, adding a touch of fantasy to furniture. In the line of “operati” fabrics, worked with the Jacquard loom, ample space is given to the "Damask": a classic fabric with a satin reinforcement where the shiny design is highlighted on a matt background. There is the "Lampasso" strong, smooth and glossy, of contrasting colours. It is obtained from wefts tied both to the straight and the reverse side, usually with a satin bottom. Finally, the "Brocade" characterized by the bottom composed of a weft in noble yarns and a visible bulge of the fabric.The velvets “operati” in cotton or silk, printed, or processed, besides the beauty add softness to the product. There is no lack of satin fabrics, cotton chenille, and “imbeline” (a type of fabric) as well as leather in many cases enriched with decorative designs.

Curtains.

The TPM workshop manufactures classic and modern curtains to complete home furnishing. The curtain is not a superfluous accessory . It produces a strong harmonic effect that gives beauty and light to the house. It also creates intimacy and fits in with all the elements of the interior from walls, floors to furniture and furnishings.The classic curtains show a wealth of imaginative accessories: drapes, tails, valances, borders, braids and cockades to which sticks, knobs, runners and cords are joined.The modern curtains are distinguished by their form (roman blinds), that is suitable both for intimate or common environments.